"Fish Eyes" question

TuxedoTaurus

TuxedoTaurus

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My Father just painted his Harley. He wetsanded the clear and scuffed the color coat before laying the clear(3 coats). He still has fish eyes in the paint that are barley noticeable.

Would wetsanding again remove them? Here are some pics hope they help, they were taken from a tablet.

Thanks
Kevin
 
Were the Fish Eyes visible in the base coat or are they in the clear?
 
I am not sure it could be the base since he just scuffed it for clear. Should he have wet-sanded the base also? I have never layed paint with anything other than a rattle can, so I am not familiar with all the steps in laying paint in stages.

If it is in the base he will have to live with it.
 
I've actually never sanded the base coat when I paint. I'm not in any way an expert on paint though just do it for fun. I sand 4 or 600 prime. Sand 600 paint the base and then clear over it after a wipe down. Then just wetland starting with 1500. I haven't had any defects like runs or fish eyes in any work I've done.
 
I've read so many mixed things on painting though some sand the base but some say not to sand base lots said don't sand base if it's metal flake. So many opinions online.
 
So could there be fish eyes coming form the base coat or will it be isolated to the clear? If that is the case there is plenty of clear on it to wetsand them out.
 
If you didn't see it in the base I would guess it's in clear. But even then it all depends how deep it is. If it is result of inadequate prep before laying the clear out it could go too deep.
 
Thanks, I will talk to him some more about the prep. He masked off a portion of the Shed to do it so it could be from some debris. It was the best he could do, definitely not ideal.
 
When painting at home I always like to make some plastic walls make sure to wet the floor and if it's inside it doesn't hurt to set off a bug bomb to kill anything because the paint floating around can kill bugs and make them fall into your work. And always use tack clothes before painting.
 
Well I do know he did all of that. He pressure washed the floor before setting up plastic but it was dry when he painted so it may have been some particles stirred up.
 
I don't ever scuff or sand the base coat. I just recoat with clear within the specified time frame.
 
Base coat/Clear coat should not be sanded after base coat. If you have a defect in the base coat then sand out and re-apply base coat. I find with spray cans if you can get the sandable primer perfect the rest goes on fine. Most times it is best to simply wait for imperfect paint to dry ( usually 30 minutes and sand with 800 grit) and recoat base. The clear coat only adds shine no "filling" or correction. Usually I add 3 semi- heavy coats of clear so I can wet sand after if it's not perfect.
 
Fish-eyes are the result of silicone contamination. It doesn't take much. There are times when you do everything right and still get them. Additionally, applying the clear too heavy, or too wet, will increase the chance of fish-eyes.

As for your predicament you have two choices. Actually three. You can sand and polish; you can sand and shoot more clear; or you can live with them. The severity of the fish-eyes are a key factor in the decision process. I can't see them in the photos thus I can't make a recommendation.

As for scuffing the base coat that is not something I would do although that is probably not the cause of the fish-eyes unless whatever you used to clean the surface after scuffing was contaminated.
 
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